Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Justice for Ukraine – Bring the Stolen Children Home June 1, 12.30pm, The Spire, O’Connell Street Dublin 1 – Updated with Fresh Endorsements, May 28

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Justice for Ukraine – Bring the Stolen Children Home June 1, 12.30pm, The Spire, O’Connell Street Dublin 1

Part of a Day of Action on June 1 2025, International Day for Children

Assemble Sunday June 1, 12.30pm The Spire, O’Connell Street

Statement, Ivana Bacik TD, Labour Party Leader

“‘Since 2014, it is known that Russia has abducted nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children. Protests against this barbaric war crime are occurring all over the world, and Russia’s criminal actions have been condemned in the European Parliament and across EU Member States. I commend all activists who are taking part in protests against Russia’s abduction and deportation of Ukrainan children. I have raised this issue in Dáil Éireann (the Irish parliament) and have demanded that the Irish government takes appropriate action to express the strongest possible condemnation of Russian war crimes.’”

Statement, John Boyle, General Secretary, Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO)

“ The INTO endorses the campaign to end the forceful transfer & deportation of Ukrainian children & return them all, ending the enforced Russification process & militarisation”

Supporters Include :


The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO)
The Labour Party

The Social Democrats Party

Ivana Bacik TD Dublin Bay South (Leader, Labour party)

Duncan Smith TD Dublin Fingal East (Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Labour party)

Marie Sherlock TD Dublin Central (Health Spokesperson Labour party)

John Lyons Dublin City Councillor (Independent Left)
Lesley Byrne Dublin City Councillor (Social Democrats)

Tanya Vyhovsky State Senator, Vermont, USA

European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU)
Irish Left With Ukraine (ILWU)

Individual Personal Supporters Include :

Nóirín Greene (Senior Irish Trade Unionist)
Des Derwin, Vice Chair, SIPTU Dublin District Council
Tadhg Mac Pháidín, Teachers’ Club (Cumann na Múinteoirí) and INTO
Gregor Kerr Dublin North City INTO
Joanne Doyle, District 14 CEC Rep INTO
Máire English, District 4 CEC Rep INTO
Máire Lineen, District 15 CEC Rep INTO
Peter O’Toole, District 7 CEC Rep INTO
Seán Mullin, Chair INTO Lisburn Branch
Sinéad Dowling, Craobh Dhún Laoghaire INTO
Feargal Brougham, Dublin North East INTO
Joe Duffy, Blanchardstown Branch INTO
Caroline Farrell, Dublin Tolka INTO
Noelle Moran, ASTI Global Solidarity Committee
Kevin Doyle, Irish Writers Union
Conor Kostick, Executive member Irish Writers Union
James Kearney, Dún Laoghaire Labour Party
Spark Deeley, illustrator
Paddy Cole, Chairperson, Labour Party Trade Union Group


Statement issued by the general secretary of British TUC Paul Nowak and other information :
International Actions for Ukraine’s Stolen Children, June 1 2025

Resources :

European Parliament Resolution, May 8 2025 : Return of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred and deported by Russia

C25ppDownload

Justice for Ukraine – Bring the Stolen Children Home June 1, 12.30pm, The Spire, O’Connell Street Dublin 1

leave a comment »

Justice for Ukraine – Bring the Stolen Children Home June 1, 12.30pm, The Spire, O’Connell Street Dublin 1

Part of a Day of Action on June 1 2025, International Day for Children

Assemble Sunday June 1, 12.30pm The Spire, O’Connell Street

Statement, Ivana Bacik TD, Labour Party Leader

“‘Since 2014, it is known that Russia has abducted nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children. Protests against this barbaric war crime are occurring all over the world, and Russia’s criminal actions have been condemned in the European Parliament and across EU Member States. I commend all activists who are taking part in protests against Russia’s abduction and deportation of Ukrainan children. I have raised this issue in Dáil Éireann (the Irish parliament) and have demanded that the Irish government takes appropriate action to express the strongest possible condemnation of Russian war crimes.’”

Statement, John Boyle, General Secretary, Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO)

“ The INTO endorses the campaign to end the forceful transfer & deportation of Ukrainian children & return them all, ending the enforced Russification process & militarisation”

Supporters Include :


The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO)
The Labour Party

Ivana Bacik TD (Leader, Labour Party)

John Lyons Dublin City Councillor (Independent Left)
Lesley Byrne Dublin City Councillor (Social Democrats)
Nóirín Greene (Senior Irish Trade Unionist)
Des Derwin, Vice Chair, SIPTU Dublin District Council
Tadhg Mac Pháidín, Teachers’ Club (Cumann na Múinteoirí)
Gregor Kerr (INTO)
European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU)
Irish Left With Ukraine (ILWU)

Statement issued by the general secretary of British TUC Paul Nowak and other information :
International Actions for Ukraine’s Stolen Children, June 1 2025

Resources :

European Parliament Resolution, May 8 2025 : Return of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred and deported by Russia

C25ppDownload

Pensioner (Sue Pentel) arrested during pro-Palestine protest outside Belfast bank ‘will not stay silent’, lawyer says – Belfast Telegraph Report

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A Belfast Telegraph report is below :

Source :


Pensioner (Sue Pentel) arrested during pro-Palestine Protest outside Belfast bankwill not stay silent, lawyer says

A pensioner arrested during a pro-Palestine protest outside a bank in Belfast will “robustly contest” any charges that are brought, her solicitor has said.

Sue Pentel was one of two women held on suspicion of criminal damage after an incident on Saturday.

The 72-year-old Jewish grandmother is a high-profile campaigner against Israel’s military action in Gaza.

Her solicitor said she was arrested “whilst peacefully protesting against the ongoing genocide in Palestine at Barclays Bank”.

According to reports, the two women were arrested after stickers promoting a boycott of the bank were allegedly placed on an ATM.

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Bono defends taking honour from Genocide Joe Biden and questions ‘competitive empathy’ over Gaza

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Bono defends taking honour from Genocide Joe Biden and questions ‘competitive empathy’ over Gaza

U2 singer faced criticism for accepting US medal of freedom from administration giving military backing to Israel

Link :
U2 frontman Bono Defends his medal gifted by Genocide Joe Biden

Irish Times Report, May 25 2025

The U2 singer received the highest civilian honour the US has to offer in January, becoming the first Irish recipient since former president Mary Robinson in 2009. It was awarded for his years of activism in trying to combat Aids and poverty.

However, Bono was criticised by some for accepting the award from an administration that was giving military backing to Israel at a time when thousands of Palestinians were being killed.

He on Saturday questioned why anyone would think he was “not shocked and appalled by what is going on in Gaza” and happening to the children living there.

The Cedar Lounge Revolution blog features a regular weekly slot
Sunday and Other Stupid Statements From the Week

These Bono claims, despite stiff opposition, are probably the most stupid Sunday statements made so far in 2025.


Bono is an apologist for Genocide Joe’s criminal armed support given to Israeli war criminals attacking Gaza.

The left needs to promote one united simple response :

From Ukraine to Palestine, Occupation Is A Crime

These demonstrators in Ghent (Belgium) promote the right message :

Written by tomasoflatharta

May 25, 2025 at 1:40 pm

Very British Scandals in the Northern Ireland State – Demanding the Truth About the Kincora House of Horrors

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The journalist Suzanne Breen is a political correspondent of the Belfast Telegraph and a regular contributor to BBC current affairs programmes about the Northern Ireland state.

Link :
Suzanne Breen Wikipedia

This is her latest summary of events in that corner of the world.

Using any rational standard, the content is stunning.

Can NI stumble forward, or is it a failed state heading for a series of serious accidents?

Readers. judge for yourselves.

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The British State and the 6 County Bit of Ireland – Hilary Benn’s Three Cover-Ups Are Protecting State Killers

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Hilary Benn is the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. He is very busy, scrambling to protect state killers.

Appalling vistas have come to the surface.

Hilary Benn, British boss (Six County bit of Ireland) flanked by Stormont 1st and Deputy 1st Ministers Emma Little-Pengelly and Michelle O’Neill

Three major scandals will not go away, public pressure is building up.

Number 1, The murder of Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) Chairperson Sean Brown in 1997

The Sean Brown case is extraordinary – Hillary Benn is covering up the involvement of 25 people connected to British intelligence in a case that dates back to 1997. Let that sink in.

Campaigners for Sean Brown are very clear on what they want. We are well used to British government cover-ups in Ireland, and are even more used to Dublin governments bowing, scraping, and capitulating to Westminster diktats.

So, it is notable that Simon Harris – Dublin government Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) has grasped this cover-up must end. This news report is very telling :

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Russian Baby kidnappers : International Actions Protesting About Ukraine’s Stolen Children – June 1 2025, International Children’s Day

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June 1 is International Children’s Day. Since 2014 Russia has forcibly kidnapped nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children. Protests against this barbaric crime are occurring all over the world.

Link : International Actions June 1, Ukraine’s Children Stolen by Russian Invaders

These crimes are a reminder of a very dark period in Ireland during most of the 20th century. Child abuse, baby-snatching, illegal adoptions, criminalising of innocent women – Irish “Mother and Baby Homes” and Magdalene Laundries were dungeons of evil where children were tortured.

During that dark period we learned that speaking up and taking public action is essential when crimes like this are drawn to our attention.

Details of Protests to be held in Ireland will be announced here soon.

Supporters of this initiative in Ireland include Ivana Bacik TD, leader of the Labour Party, who has issued the following public statement :

Ivana Bacik TD, Labour Party Leader

Since 2014, it is known that Russia has abducted nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children. Protests against this barbaric war crime are occurring all over the world, and Russia’s criminal actions have been condemned in the European Parliament and across EU Member States.  I commend all activists who are taking part in protests against Russia’s abduction and deportation of Ukrainan children. I have raised this issue in Dáil Éireann (the Irish parliament) and have demanded that the Irish government takes appropriate action to express the strongest possible condemnation of Russian war crimes.

Ivana Bacik TD, Labour Party Leader, Ireland

Crimes of Russia, Kidnapping of Ukrainian Children

The European Network for Solidarity With Ukraine (ENSU) invites all to this Zoom Event on May 30 :

Since 2014 Russia has forcibly transferred almost 20,000 Ukrainian children to areas under its control, assigned them Russian citizenship, forcibly adopted them into Russian families, and created obstacles for their reunification with their parents and homeland. The true scale of the crisis may be far greater.

On the eve of International Children’s Day, which is celebrated on the 1th of June we want to invite you to a meeting where whe can disscuss in more detail about the crimes of Russia towards Ukrainian children.

Our panelists will include:
– Kateryna Rashevska an international law and legal expert at the Regional Centre of Human Rights (https://krymbezpravil.org.ua/), children’s rights activist
– Mykola Komarovskyi, lawyer at NGO “Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group” (https://khpg.org/en/), author of one of the KHRPG submissions to the ICC regarding the forced deportation of Ukrainian children

Meeting in English, French and Ukrainian.

Zoom link (registration required):
https://us02web.zoom.us/…/register/QPZ2-j70RYGoF9bzvcGgMA

Kincora House and Lord Mountbatten (grand uncle of King Charles) – Chris Moore and Suzanne Breen Say “It is long past the time that the full truth was told about what happened in the house of horrors” – they are 100 per cent right

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We wish to again congratulate the dogged investigative reporter Chris Moore for putting so much dedicated hard work into a shocking story which will not go away.

This smoking volcano has become more active recently. The criminal scandal will not go away, and further political action is vital. We are duty bound to keep up the pressure and, above all, support the victims of horrendous British state crimes.

For decades the Belfast Kincora child abuse scandal has attracted false and unverified accusations. In my own case I refused to believe many rumours about the involvement of Lord Mountbatten in a child abuse ring because no credible evidence was placed in the public arena.

At the Dublin Irish Film Institute  (IFI) launch of the stunning documentary “Lost Boys of Belfast” in 2023 I made this observation to one of the documentary makers, Chris Moore.

I had noticed there was no reference to Mountbatten in the sensational documentary. Chris confirmed that the documentary makers made no mention of the Mountbatten allegations because they possessed no credible proof.

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“Ukraine, an invaded country, has managed to defend its independence in this terrible three-year war with great sacrifices against the formidable army of the imperialist aggressor” – Small countries can defeat big imperial occupiers

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A myth is doing the rounds on the left in Ireland and other parts of the globe that small countries are powerless when they have to fight against imperialist invaders. We suggest readers consult this fine passionate article written by Joxe Iriarte, Bikila, a revolutionary socialist activist from the Basque region (Euskadi) situated in the northern part of the Spanish state.

Source :
Europe: The Starting Point for the Remodelling of the New Reactionary International Order – Bikila

See also Vitaly Dudin’s

Five problems with the US-Ukraine mineral deal

which appears below.


Ukraine, an invaded country, has managed to defend its independence in this terrible three-year war with great sacrifices against the formidable army of the imperialist aggressor. Of course, this would not have been possible without the supply of weapons from the West, but the main factor has been the courage and great motivation of the Ukrainian people. This is how the Russian left-wing intellectual Ilya Budaitskis refers to Ukraine’s sacrifice.

Economist Michael Roberts states: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused a terrible impact on the Ukrainian people. 46,000 civilians and perhaps 500,000 soldiers have died. Millions have fled abroad and millions more have been forced to leave their homes. Kyiv has lost 50,000 workers. Ukraine’s GDP has fallen by 25% and 7.1 million Ukrainians currently live in poverty”.

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Belfast Child Abuse Scandal : KINCORA MONSTER DENIED ALL WHEN CONFRONTED BY AUTHOR IN THIS EXTRACT FROM HIS NEW BOOK, KINCORA: BRITAIN’S SHAME

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Child Abuse remains a major crime problem in Ireland, on both sides of the border. Veteran reporter Chris Moore has worked tirelessly researching the issue, and fighting state censorship.

Governments running the two bits of Ireland must stop pocketing knowledge of abuse, and then using the information for political intelligence purposes, and protecting powerful wealthy criminals.

The building at the centre of the scandal was demolished three years ago, but the cover up of the crimes committed behind its walls continues.
It is long past the time that the full truth was told about what happened in the house of horrors.

Suzanne Breen, Journalist, Belfast

McGrath denied his sins to the end – one of his last interviews

Chris Moore, Sunday Life, May 18th, 2025

Source : “McGrath Denied His Sins to the End” Kincora Monster Denied All

KINCORA MONSTER DENIED ALL WHEN CONFRONTED BY AUTHOR IN THIS EXTRACT FROM HIS NEW BOOK, KINCORA: BRITAIN’S SHAME

The UK government has locked up files on Kincora until 2065 & 2085.Veteran investigative journalist Chris Moore’s new book, ‘Kincora: Britain’s Shame’, launched last night in a packed Duke of York bar, means we don’t have to wait until then. #mustread

Patrick Corrigan (@patrick-corrigan.bsky.social) 2025-05-16T09:13:34.658Z

I parked in the forecourt of a neighbourhood shop with the intention of asking if anyone could direct me to McGrath’s home.

I presented a few items for payment, casually asking the shopkeeper if she could point me in the direction of his house.

Politely, but firmly, she declined, saying that as far as she and others in the village were concerned, ‘Billy’ McGrath was a friendly man who said he had been badly wronged in the courts and pestered by reporters.

“I suppose you are one of them,” she said bluntly. I owned up and then respectfully suggested that the evidence that convicted him indicated that, far from being wronged, McGrath had actually got off very lightly.

Collecting my change, I headed out to the car to consider my next move. I could do the door-to-door routine, but the attitude of the shopkeeper suggested I would receive little cooperation. Then, an elderly man approached, wearing a cardigan, dark trousers and slippers, so obviously he had not travelled too far.

I got out of the car and watched as he moved towards the shop. There is a God, I thought. Gingerly I edged around the car, proffering my hand as he reached me.

He accepted, we shook and I announced myself as “Chris Moore from the BBC”. McGrath smiled wryly and told me he had nothing to say.

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